“Sure, okay.” He came out onto the porch but made no sign that he intended to sit. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the banisters. “Maybe I’d rather stand. I’ve been sitting all day, grading essays.”
“There’s something I have to talk to you about, and I don’t think you’re going to want to hear it.”
“How could that be?”
“You know your children love me, don’t you?”
“That goes without saying,” he said. “They adore you.”
“As I do them. And I hope you know that I would never tell you something taken out of context to excuse or to enhance anyone’s innocence or guilt, right?”
“My God, Holly! Get to the point.”
“Okay, here it is. Sharon cut Hunter off with her car and that’s what caused his accident. Not the other way around, that he had an accident and she arrived to save him.”
“Oh, come on now, Holly. She wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Really? Okay. I’m not going to go into this any further. But you ought to know, Archie, this is endangerment of a minor. I’m not going to stand around while these boys are in harm’s way and do nothing about it.”
“Why are they in harm’s way? Because Sharon’s trying to make them responsible for cleaning their rooms?”
“Archie, Hunter and Tyler can’t read the washing machine buttons.”
“Then all they have to do is ask for some direction,” he said.
“And if they get home at five minutes after five, do you really think they should be denied dinner?”
“That’s a bit too much, I agree,” he said.
“And should she really turn the lights out when they are in the shower?”
“She was just trying to make a point about using too much hot water.”
“What if they slip and fall in the darkness? Do you know what percentage of head injuries come from bathroom accidents?”
“I suspect more come from football,” he said. “Look, I know Sharon’s a rough taskmaster, but this house has never been cleaner. Even the dining room table is cleared.”
“Your house might be clean, but your boys are miserable.”
“Why in the world would they be miserable?”
“They feel they are being distanced from you, and they sure as hell don’t feel loved by her.”
“Holly, that’s quite a mouthful.”
“Yeah, it is. Can you imagine what it would be if I filled in the details?”
“It wouldn’t be a story I’d relish hearing about my new wife, I’m sure. But I will be more vigilant and I will try to give the boys more time.”
“Why not have a boys’ night once a week? Give them a chance to talk to you without her there.”
“Not a bad idea.”
He looked at me in such a way that I could tell he was absolutely unconvinced that I had told him the truth about Hunter’s accident.
“You don’t believe me about Hunter and his bicycle accident, do you?”
“Look, I think you are very well intentioned. If I didn’t know you had genuine feelings for my boys, I’d be furious right now. And I’m not. Not a bit. And I think my boys are on a mission to get rid of Sharon, for whatever their juvenile reasons might be.”
“Okay, I’ve said my piece. Good luck to you, Archie.”
“Hey! Why are you saying good luck like there’s something terrible looming?”
“Because there is something terrible looming, Archie. I feel it in every one of my bones.”
“Really?”
“Look, she’s accusatory, self-absorbed, defensive, judgmental, petty, dishonest, and unkind, so I don’t like Sharon, your boys don’t like Sharon, Leslie doesn’t like Sharon, and even my momma doesn’t like Sharon. The bees don’t like her and even the seagulls don’t like her. None of us, the humans that is, see this situation improving. We all see it as going downhill. So good luck.”
“I see. So are you saying you don’t want to sit for my kids in the future?”
That was his biggest concern?
“I would never say no to doing anything for those boys. And you know it. But sit for them? I wish they lived with me. And so do they. Figure it out, Archie. You’ve got a ticking bomb on your hands, because this is only going to get worse unless you step in.”
“Look, Holly. You’re a nice girl. You mean well. But you should never assume to know how things really are under someone else’s roof.”
Don’t condescend to me, bubba, I thought.
“That’s right. And you’re a nice boy.” I thought, Think about that one, old man. “Unless a person is absolutely certain things are